What the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ means for Indian Country and the Osage Nation

Written By: Allison Herrera

(OSAGE RESERVATION) President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR1)  into law on July 4. It’s a sweeping domestic policy bill that focuses on tax cuts and supercharging the administration’s border enforcement to prevent undocumented people from settling in the United States. It also makes major cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

Read this story on Osage News here.

The Act only needed a simple majority vote to pass. The Republicans passed the Act through Congress by just a few votes. No Democrats voted for the Act and a few Republicans voted against the Act. All of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation voted for the bill.

So, what do these sweeping changes mean for Indian Country and Osage citizens?

The key provisions include tribal exemptions from SNAP and Medicaid work requirements, funding for tribal governments, and parity for tribal citizens in adoption tax credits.

According to the National Indian Health Board, “Medicaid work requirements without an AI/AN (American Indian/Alaskan Native) exemption would likely cause many AI/ANs to lose coverage and would place additional strain on the Indian health system resource.”

But the bill also cuts tribal energy loan guarantees, threatens tribal clean energy projects, and claws back $2 billion for forestry protection.

It’s unclear if the Osage Nation has projects that are affected by the cuts to clean energy. The bill eliminates energy grants and loan programs used by tribal nations to obtain energy sovereignty, bolster economic development and protect their tribal lands.

National Congress of American Indian President Mark Macarro said the bill’s effects on tribal communities will be mixed.

He highlighted NCAI’s efforts, including multiple visits to Capitol Hill, meetings with allies in Indian Country at the congressional level, and the formation of the Coalition for Tribal Sovereignty, to influence the bill’s outcomes.

Before NCAI members could lobby to protect tribal nations from some of the cuts wielded by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, they were trying to combat some of the harmful effects of executive orders.

“Nowhere along the lines … is there anything beautiful about this bill,” Macarro said.

First, there was a pause on all federal aid from the Office of Management and Budget, which was rescinded. In early February, tribal nations grappled with large-scale staffing reductions at agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

“I think for some time, and I’m not sure it’s ended, but Indians were being lumped in with minority groups, and so a big part of our push … was to differentiate tribal citizens, tribal nations on the basis of being a political designation, not a race based designation, therefore not DEI,” Macarro said, referring to the administration’s push to rid federal government agencies of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Macarro told Osage News that a key message he and others echoed when talking to congressional leaders is that health care is a trust responsibility the federal government owes tribal nations.

Two positive provisions for tribal citizens are the Tribal Adoption Tax Parity Act and the Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs).

When a non-tribal family living in a state adopts a new family member, they’re able to claim that individual on their taxes. Tribes, tribal citizens, have not been able to do that until the passage of HR 1, which will create that provision for tribes. 

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits were permanently extended. These are not specific to tribal nations, but they have used them to attract people and companies willing to develop affordable housing in Indian Country.

The bill essentially enshrines President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which, according to the Ways and Means Committee, say “Permanence of the 2017 Trump tax cuts will save 6 million jobs, including 1.1 million manufacturing jobs.”

However, reporting on HR 1 paints a starker financial picture, one where the national debt soars to $3.4 trillion. That’s according to the Congressional Budget Office. It will also result in more than 10 million people without access to health insurance over a decade.

Wahzhazhe Health Center CEO Mark Rogers told Osage News in an email that the cuts to Medicaid will take place over a 10-year period, that Native Americans are exempt from the work requirements and that rates for Indian Country for Medicaid have not been cut. Medicaid rates are the rates doctors and others are paid for providing care.

“I think only time is going to tell how this is going to ultimately shake out,” Rogers said.

He and his team at the Osage Nation Health System (ONHS) have been doing some calculating and preparation in case any new cuts are proposed. They are, however, waiting on those rates, which will drop in December. If there is a drop in how much Medicaid will pay, that can have consequences on how they and other tribal health care systems are able to meet their financial obligations. 

Rogers said the people he is talking to in the industry think tribal communities won’t be affected. But he said the proof will be in the fee schedule that Medicaid releases at the end of the year. Rogers said tribal nations that compact their health systems get an enhanced rate, and he’s worried that could be reduced, despite assurances.

“We are continually monitoring to fully understand the actual impacts of these changes; however, despite the broader uncertainty, there’s genuine reason for optimism as Indian Country appears better positioned than initially feared,” Rogers said.

However, once the Wahzhazhe Health Center expands its services to non-Natives, they will be impacted. 

“While Medicaid eligibility for AI/AN individuals is preserved, eligibility tightening and new verification requirements may reduce the number of non-Native patients who qualify or remain enrolled in Medicaid as a result, impacting all tribes who provide care for Non-Natives,” he said.

He remains optimistic that the impacts to self-governance tribes like the Osage Nation won’t be impacted.

“Mandatory funding for the Indian Health Service (MYFA or Compacted Health Funds), and funds authorized under Title V Self-Governance Compacts and Title I Self-Determination Contracts remain intact and protected,” Rogers said.

This means that funding for 638 and compact tribes, like the Osage Nation, should remain stable in the near term.

Tribal Green Energy Programs

On the Osage Nation, Eighth Generation Consulting has been working on a few projects that involve workforce training in the field of renewable energy, as well as a collaboration with the ON housing department and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Some of the grants they’ve applied for have been paused.

Osage citizen Saxon Metzger, one of the CEO’s of Eighth Generation, recently moved his company from Chicago to Pawhuska. He said that it’s not only economic headwinds from HR1 that companies like his are facing, but the uncertainty around the ever-changing tariff policies of the Trump administration. He said that green energy projects take time to bring up to scale and need stability in policy and market decisions.

“Businesses need stability to make hiring decisions,” Metzger said.

“They need stability to make investment decisions and most of the changes that we’re seeing right now have not really supported that.” He said a lot of the HR1 Bill has thrown into question some of the grant programs.

Another partnership that has been held up is one with Pawhuska Public Schools and the Chamber of Commerce for workforce development and “future-proof sustainability careers.”

Other negative consequences for Indian Country, according to Skenadore and Wilson, a tribal law and policy group:

Student Loan Changes will Impact some Native Students.

The Act establishes a $200,000 loan limit and gives less flexibility on loan repayment.  It gives less flexibility for students who experience financial hardship. The law also only allows full-time students to be eligible for Pell Grants.

Program Recessions that will occur include:

Tribal Energy Loan Program funds will be rescinded, and the program will end.

The National Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program, otherwise known as SNAP-ED, will end in 2025.

The State and Private Forestry Conservation Program, which included Tribes and provided $1.5 billion for tree planting and related activities, has been rescinded.

Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHSDA)

According to Macarro, there was a provision in the House of Representatives’ version of the HR1 bill that NAHSDA had to be designated in areas difficult to develop for low-income housing tax credits for tribally sponsored projects or buildings. That was removed.

“So that was going to be seen as something that was, you know, positive for a number of reasons, ultimately providing needed housing, wherever that is, but also development spurring tribal economies, local economies,” Macarro said. 

“Really, if somebody understood where the progression of Indian Country and how things have been improving and working, that would have been something definitely to keep.”

Macarro remains optimistic for Indian Country despite some of the earlier frustrations. He is hopeful that some of the cuts proposed in the so-called “skinny budget” that affect the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service and most notably, tribal colleges will be negotiated down or out.

“I get that, and I understand, you know, every presidential administration has its prerogatives, has its priorities,” he said.

“This, this has been an outlier in terms of the experience of that, though, and so what was, what was the precedent for dealing with these things hasn’t been allowed to take place,” Macarro said. “And that’s what’s been frustrating.”